When Jack had been invited to have dinner with Sam and Candace, he hadn't been expecting a large box tied with twine to be waiting for him. A pile of cards or rocks, sure. He approached the kitchen table and frowned at the package before looking back at Sam in confusion. "I didn't order anything."

"O'Byrne dropped it off at the station," Sam said, sending the package a critical glare. "Linda thinks she's in love. Mister Lucky Charms is quite the charmer when he wants to be. Couldn't even give him a sour look without someone asking questions. He even had Cathy swooning."

"She's the grumpy one that thinks I'm stealing pens, right?" Jack asked as he moved around the table, warily eying the box.

"If you can't put effort into your appearance, what's to stop you from being a klepto?" Sam said with a sly smile. "Using you as exposure therapy has done wonders. She waited a whole five minutes to confiscate the pen jar when some kid came in the other day."

Jack wrapped his fingers tightly around the strap of his laptop bag as he licked his lips. Sam's light conversation did little to ease his nerves. The gift had to be some sort of peace offering that he didn't want and wasn't prepared for. "You open it."

Sam shook his head and cut the twine. He lifted the cover and frowned, his lips pulling back in disgust.

"Well? Is it flowers or limbs?" What would he do if Kieran had sent him a gory threat? He couldn't do the same thing as last time and ignore a decapitated rabbit. His breath caught at the thought, already slipping away. With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone and made a note, swallowing against the disgust. On the bright side, he was getting better at holding onto the random memories.

"Limbs?" Sam repeated in alarm.

Jack slowly looked up, guilt clear on his face. "Er… Like in the movies. And like the last time I had a weird boyfriend," he reluctantly admitted. And definitely not like there potentially being evidence of dismemberment in Kieran's apartment.

"Well, it's neither." Sam set the lid down and pushed aside a protective layer of tissue paper, revealing the tribal mask Jack had become obsessed with.

"Oh, fuck you, asshole!" Jack leaned over the table to get a better look at his inanimate friend. Vacant holes stared back at him. Old wood worn down with age and suspiciously real teeth drew him in, begging to be touched.

"Sorry."

"No! He… God, what the hell?! I can't accept this! I have to give it back. Shit! That was probably his plan. Insurance to make sure I showed up." It was worse than the rabbit. There was no ignoring the thoughtful gesture. He clutched his bag's strap tighter, resisting the urge to pull the mask free from the box.

"Unless he thought you actually wanted it," Sam said with a hint of uncertainty as he pushed more tissue paper out of the way.

"Of course I want it! That's why he's using it to bribe me or lure me in. And if this really is random, then what about Christmas? I'm not used to having a rich boyfriend!" Jack waved his hand between himself and the mask. "Ex. Friend. Whatever. I kinda like that he wants to spoil me, okay? But issues."

Sam's face was neutral as he watched Jack's hand flail around in a failed attempt to convey his internal struggle. "Do you want me to take it back to him?"

Jack stared at the mask's gaping maw. "No. I wanna sit on it for a while."

"Seriously?"

He let out a heavy sigh and shifted his weight, looking away. "I just want it on my shitty wall for a week. Maybe that'll devalue it. It'll serve him right."

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Sam tapped his fingers on the table and shook his head. "Are those real teeth?"

"Maybe?" Looking back at the mask, uncertainty gripped Jack's lungs. "Maybe I don't want this on my wall. I don't think he'd give me anything haunted or cursed."

Giving in to temptation, he reached into the box and brushed his fingertips against a carved line cutting across the mask's forehead. Technically, it was his, and he was allowed to touch.

"Do you wanna do anything about him?"

"Watch him cook while he recites the phone book?" He forced a cough and scratched at his neck as he looked away. "Sorry. No. I'm fine. I'm handling this. Dating Augie's putting things into perspective? Like, Kieran wasn't exactly bad? I'm just really fucked up."

"Don't blame yourself for your breakup."

"Well… Break," Jack insisted. "With a lot of space."

"I can go with you to drop it off."

Jack dropped onto a chair and scratched at the side of the box. He could do this on his own. He was an adult and able to take care of his own problems. If only he could pull himself together enough to believe it. "Thanks. I'll be fine."

"Will you?" Sam took the chair across the table and leaned on his elbows, giving Jack a hard stare.

"I'm not so sure about Augie," Jack quietly admitted.

"The temporary boyfriend."

Jack nodded. "I gave him a fake name, and I kinda feel bad about it, but not really. And I don't really wanna tell him my real name."

Sam closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "Has he done anything to make you feel unsafe?"

"No? I panicked. Bad. For reasons."

"Reasons?"

"I might have a type? And it's…not bad. Just weird." The divots in the table provided a temporary distraction as he sorted out his thoughts.

"And that type would be?"

There was no way Jack could admit that he had a habit of dating vampires. "Uh… Someone into me in a threatening and non-threatening way?"

Judging by the way Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, Jack should have gone with the vampire explanation.

"Jack, you open your mouth and say things that make me fear for your safety. You know this, right?"

"I fear for my safety, too," he quietly admitted. He didn't have a habit of making good decisions, but he would like to think he was doing better.

"Should I start checking in with you more often?"

"No. Maybe."

"I'll take the mask back to your ex."

The way Sam said "ex" added a finality to the relationship that Jack should have been ready for. "I'll take it. I need to talk to him anyway. In person. Since we're trying the whole friends thing."

He looked up and immediately regretted it. The level of disapproval set his teeth on edge. "Look, you don't need to be all 'he hurt you, so I hate him' about him. I hurt him back, and I hit him pretty low where he can't exactly help it, and now I'm being a hypocrite. Just lemme figure it out."

"And what can't he help that you're apparently okay with now?"

"Neck fetish," Jack replied, going with the first excuse that made any sort of sense. "It reminded me of Farragut, and only got worse after… After."

"And the lying?"

"So he knew about the scars, but was waiting for me to say something, and instead of coming out and being honest about that, I came out with being honest about something else. Kinda threw him off, and that threw me off." Jack frowned and quickly looked away from Sam's incredulous stare.

"I know you either make things sound worse than they are or nowhere near as bad, but this is…" Sam broke off with a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Which way are we going?"

"Meet in the middle?" Jack shrugged and pulled the box with his mask closer. Things were a little more in the open, and he felt better for having a chance to come clean to some extent.

"I'm not apologizing to him," Sam insisted with the petulance of a toddler.

"You don't gotta. He has experience with overprotective friends."

"Of course he does," Sam said under his breath. He stood and headed to the door, patting Jack's shoulder on the way. "I'm cooking salmon tonight. You can keep Lady Cadence entertained."

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]